philomela;procne

2021

Glass beads, drawing ink, oil-based ink, screenprinting ink, embroidery floss, cotton thread, metal wire, metallic copper thread, tea, flour, acrylic paint, watercolours, markers on calico and muslin.

10m in circumference, approx. 3.183m in diameter.

“You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure. That means thinking about power differently. It means decoupling it from public prestige. It means thinking collaboratively, about the power of followers not just of leaders. It means, above all, thinking about power as an attribute or even a verb (‘to power’), not as a possession.” - Mary Beard, Women & Power

With this in mind, ‘philomela;procne’ has been about using the Greek Myth of Philomela and Procne and reframing it to represent a more honest and contemporary understanding of women, their identity, voices, and power. The myth, which this work is loosely inspired by, tells the story of two sisters - one who is brutally violated, and the other who defies duty and societal norms to avenge her sister. In both situations, these women are caught in a structure of power in which they both are left with no good choices, no power or agency, and their voices are suppressed.

It is up to everyone to reconsider how narratives we have viewed and internalised persistently present dangerous archetypes and social behaviours, and figure out how to reimagine and restructure our worldviews for the benefit of everyone.